Resources

Global Poverty

Select Books and Chapters

V. Kasturi Rangan, John A. Quelch, Gustavo Herrero, and Brooke Barton. Business Solutions for the Global Poor: Creating Social and Economic Value. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007.

Select Articles and Working Papers

Nava Ashraf, James Berry, and Jesse M. Shapiro. “Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia.” Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-034, December 2006. (Revised June 2007.)
Improving Public Health for the Poor,” HBS Working Knowledge (December 13, 2006).
Microfinance: A Way Out for the Poor,” HBS Working Knowledge (June 28, 2004).
Michael Chu, John A. Quelch, V. Kasturi Rangan, and Bruce R. Scott. “The Business of Global Poverty,” HBS Working Knowledge (April 4, 2007).
John A. Quelch and V. Kasturi Rangan. “Business and the Global Poor,” HBS Working Knowledge (February 5, 2007).

Search HBS Working Knowledge for cutting-edge research by HBS faculty related to base of the pyramid, global poverty, and microfinance.

Search Harvard Business School’s faculty publications and research interest databases on base of the pyramid, global poverty, and microfinance.

Select Cases and Notes

“"Aid, Debt Relief, and Trade: An Agenda for Fighting World Poverty" (A) (9-707-029 ) Laura Alfaro, Eric Werker, and Renee Kim
“Aurolab: Bringing First-World Technology to the Third-World Blind” (9-507-061) V. Kasturi Rangan
“Unilever in India: Hindustan Lever's Project Shakti–Marketing FMCG to the Rural Consumer” (9-505-056)
V. Kasturi Rangan and Rohithari Rajan
“Patrimonio Hoy: A Financial Perspective” (9-207-059)
Arthur I. Segel, Michael Chu, and Gustavo Herrero
“Opportunity International: Measurement and Mission” (9-307-067)
Herman B. “Dutch” Leonard, Marc J. Epstein, and Melissa Tritter

Search Harvard Business School Publishing for articles and cases on the base of the pyramid, global poverty, and microfinance.

"Perspectives from the Field: International Development". A panel discussion moderated by Philippe Taieb, as part of the HBS Industry Week Alumni Panels series (October 30, 2007).

MBA Courses

Business at the Base of the Pyramid (Second Year, Winter Term)
Professor V. Kasturi "Kash" Rangan and Senior Lecturer Michael Chu
The course seeks to provide an understanding of how business approaches can address low income segments, often the largest components of emerging markets (both in terms of population as well as total expenditure) but nevertheless severely underserved. The course material explores the factors behind the commercial viability of such markets and examines the impact of business models on the social and economic development of the societies involved, i.e. the creation of financial returns and the generation or destruction of social value. It views low–income populations as both consumers of goods and services (from healthcare, water and financial products to toiletries and electronics) and as economic agents in value chains (such as in agriculture and the dairy industry). The course is composed of three major modules: Basic Needs; Business Inputs (employment, technology, finance); and Consumption, Products & Services. The cases cover Africa, Asia and Latin America as well as US–based global initiatives.

Executive Education Programs

HBS-ACCION Strategic Leadership for Microfinance, a custom program sponsored by Harvard Business School in partnership with ACCION International, is designed to provide management and leadership training to the microfinance industry’s CEOs, executives, and key sector protagonists. The program addresses issues confronting microfinance leaders, including succeeding in highly competitive markets; maintaining a social focus in a commercial setting; working with equity investors and accessing commercial capital markets; and reaching new business segments and evolving products.